Thor: The Dark World (2013)
[3] Movies like this bring out the valley girl in me. So, like, I just don't give a shit about Thor, okay? Watching a bunch of thee-and-thou types running around in nightgowns and armor is just silly, you know? And…
Gravity (2013)
[6]
Gravity is so harrowing, I’m tempted to call it crisis porn. The movie stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in orbit over Earth after debris destroys their spacecraft. Director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, A Little Princess) warns us from the get-go with some on-screen text that life in space is impossible, and then proceeds to throw everything you can imagine at Bullock and Clooney’s characters. They’ve got dwindling oxygen supplies, they’ve got the debris looping back around at them every ninety minutes, their spacesuits are running out of propulsion, and their connection to Huston has gone dark. There are the threats of burning alive, freezing to death, drowning, and slipping into coma. They see other members of their crew frozen solid, flesh exposed to the vacuum of space — one guy with a tidy hole clean through his head.
Don Jon (2013)
[7]
Future Oscar-winner (I’ve been saying this since 2001’s Manic) Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes an auspicious writing/directing debut with Don Jon, a character study of a young New Jersey guy whose addiction to pornography takes its toll on his relationships with women. Gordon-Levitt pumped up to play the title character, but I hope he drops the muscle mass soon — his head’s too small for a body that big! The film is superbly cast. Scarlett Johansson impresses me for the first time ever here, playing a sex-pot who knocks Jon off his feet. Tony Danza and Glenne Headly are great as Jon’s parents, and the ever-reliable Julianne Moore is memorable as a quirky but sullen older woman who competes for Jon’s affections as the story wears on.
Only God Forgives (2013)
[7]
Against a backdrop of the Bangkok underground fighting scene, a reticent drug smuggler (Ryan Gosling) is caught in a vicious cycle of brutal revenge after his brother is murdered for committing rape. Only God Forgives plays out like a fever dream, a far more operatic and surreal effort from writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn than his earlier mainstream hit, Drive. There is precious little dialogue, hyper-stylized photography, a brash score by Cliff Martinez, and a willful tendency to blur the line between reality and the characters’ imaginations.
The Bay (2012)
[4] Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam) slums it with this found footage horror flick about a small Maryland community that gets infected by mutant parasites. The core concept is a solid one, building off the real-life…
You’re Next (2011)
[6]
In this home invasion horror flick from writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard (V/H/S), a group of animal-masked killers armed with crossbows and axes begin preying on a wealthy family coming together for the parents’ anniversary. The film spends a generous twenty minutes or so getting you acquainted with the family — including three sons, a daughter, and everyone’s significant others. But then the shit hits the fan, and it pretty much keeps hitting it for over an hour. You’re Next isn’t a drastic departure from formula, but it has a few surprises in store. If it took itself too seriously, it’d be easier to write it off as just another home invasion movie. But with its tongue-in-cheek humor and increasingly hyper-stylized execution (no pun intended), it reminds me of a good old-fashioned ’80s slasher/revenge movie. Is it derivative or classic? You decide — but nostalgia goes a long way with me.
Stranger by the Lake (2013)
[8] At an idyllic lakeshore cruising spot for gay men, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) hopes to find a romantic partner. After searching for days at the clothing-optional oasis, he befriends a frumpy loner named Henri (Patrick d'Assumçao). The two strike up…
Killing Them Softly (2012)
[6]
Brad Pitt reunites with writer/director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), playing a hit man called in by the local crime lords after two young kids take down a big card game that collapses the underground economy. The parallels to the US economy are blatant, complete with recurring clips of Barack Obama and George W. Bush talking about the financial collapse of 2008. But if you ignore the pointed comparison, Killing Them Softly offers a compelling portrait of characters who do anything to get by. They aren’t quite the tough guys of so many other mob and gangster movies — Dominik’s character’s don’t enjoy hurting people, they just want to get paid — and they fear the consequences of their actions. It’s a refreshing spin on familiar ‘tough guy’ tropes, but don’t expect a Scorsese or Tarantino movie here. This one favors conversation and performance well over action. There are a couple of visceral moments in the film (both involving the brutal misfortunes of Ray Liotta’s character), but the real reason to see Killing Them Softly is for the performances.
This Is 40 (2012)
[6]
Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd star as two 40-year-olds struggling to balance the demands of their marriage, children, parents, and jobs. This Is 40 is billed as a ‘sort of’ sequel to Knocked Up, where Mann and Rudd originated the roles. Both films were directed by Judd Apatow, and both take a more pastiche approach to their narratives. On one hand, I like the fly-on-the-wall approach. It favors character over formulaic story structure. On the other hand, without that trusted structure, Apatow’s movies just seem to go on forever and ever and ever. This one is two hours and fifteen minutes, and I stand by my rule that no comedy should exceed an hour forty five.
The Thing (2011)
[4] While it's technically a prequel, this new Thing is a lot like the old Thing, but pales by comparison in every conceivable way. The characters are less engaging, the atmosphere is less palpable, the tension is lacking, and the…